Countries With Less Religious Diversity Have More Faith-Based Violence

2014/04/07 1 Comment

Interesting study with the caveats below:

Of course, these findings come with some limitations. The diversity study doesn’t account for different denominations within religions, like Sunnis and Shiites in Muslim countries or Protestants and Catholics in Christian countries; apparently it was too difficult to gather enough data to make those distinctions. It’s also impossible to make conclusions about cause and effect: Pluralism itself might help reduce violence, or countries that tolerate high levels of diversity might attract people less inclined to violence. And these trends may be related to overall patterns of violence and political instability in the world—in the past several years, some of the countries with the highest levels of religious affiliation have been hit hard by war, especially in the Middle East.

Still, the two studies reveal an interesting pattern: Spiritual consensus is not the key to peace or stability. And this seems to be true across faiths: The most violent, homogenous places include countries that are primarily Buddhist, Muslim, and Christian. It may not be true everywhere, but these data suggest something remarkable: Religious pluralism can be, and often is, compatible with peaceful societies.

Countries With Less Religious Diversity Have More Faith-Based Violence – Emma Green – The Atlantic.

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The Muslims Are Coming!: Islamophobia, Extremism, and the Domestic War on Terror

2014/04/05 Leave a comment

Worth reading for an alternate view on the “root causes” of extremism and terrorism by Arun Kundnani, and some of the missteps in the “war against terror.”

It does not answer why people in some communities are more drawn to extremism and violence than others. This is not unique to Muslims as other examples, such as previous patterns of violence among some Sikhs or Catholics in Northern Ireland. And many of the people implicated in terrorism and extremism are not the most disadvantaged or excluded in their communities:

This failure to engage with the real roots of violent alienation has ramifications going far beyond security. Both culturalism and reformism neglect what Kundnani calls “the basic political question thrown up by multiculturalism: how can a common way of life, together with full participation from all parts of society, be created?” Those British Muslims who “ghettoised” didn’t do so by choice but as a result of industrial collapse, discriminatory housing policies and the fear of racist violence. Identity politics was promoted and funded by local government in response to a 1970s radicalism (for instance the Asian Youth Movements, modelled on the Black Panthers), which linked anti-racism to anti-capitalism. Home secretary Willie Whitelaw supported “ethnic” TV programming on the grounds that “if they don’t get some outlet for their activities you are going to run yourself into much more trouble”. Multiculturalism, then, was not a leftist plot but a conservative move bringing together the state and community “uncles” against a much more subversive alternative. And in the last decade, while “anti-terror” resources have flowed into Muslim communities, benefiting the usual gatekeepers and provoking the envy of equally deprived non-Muslim communities, young, alienated Muslims, as likely obsessed by the Illuminati as the caliphate, are deterred from speaking – and being challenged – in public.

The Muslims Are Coming!: Islamophobia, Extremism, and the Domestic War on Terror – review | Books | The Guardian.

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Zainab Bint Younus: Don’t speak for Muslim women. Speak to us

2014/04/03 Leave a comment

The Muslim Salafist feminist perspective on the niqab:

Muslim women who wear niqab aren’t some kind of scary “other.” We are Canadian women, as intelligent, vivacious, outspoken, and empowered as every other Canadian woman. I, for one, was raised in Canada; my childhood is complete with hiking, Tim Hortons, organic maple syrup, and hanging out at the mall with my friends (and golly, wouldn’t you believe it, my niqab didn’t do anything to stop my raucous laughter?).

The niqab isn’t a symbol of our “regressive understanding of the world,” but rather, it is primarily an act of worship to God, a symbol of identity, and finally, a conscious choice to not engage in the overwhelming, toxic environment of hypersexualization that cheapens men, women and sexuality by turning people into commodities and objects stripped of humanity.

While she has a point that Jon Kay should have spoken to niqabi women (or read the CCMW report Study dispels stereotypes about Ontario women who wear niqabs), Kay’s point in terms of the impact of the niqab on integration, and how it is perceived, is largely correct. And Younus is silent on the degree to which she interacts with others; her website suggests, as is her right, that her main focus is with respect to debates among Muslims, rather than broader Canadian issues. And her comment on the “toxic environment” illustrates an equal intolerant attitude to the one she condemns.

Zainab Bint Younus: Don’t speak for Muslim women. Speak to us | National Post.

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Baroness Warsi Speaks Out On Islamophobia, Richard Dawkins, Bingo Posters And ‘Racist’ Ukip

2014/04/02 Leave a comment

A largely positive piece on Baroness Warsi, UK Minister for Faith in the Communities Department:

The peer herself doesn’t seem bothered by the brickbats. “Politics is a pretty ruthless place and it’s not the kind of place which you’d choose for a good work-life balance,” she tells me, with a shrug of her shoulders, during our chat at Lancaster House. “If you’re going to come into politics and try not to upset anybody, and stand on the sidelines, then you might as well go off and be an accountant. I came into politics to make a difference.”

Baroness Warsi Speaks Out On Islamophobia, Richard Dawkins, Bingo Posters And ‘Racist’ Ukip.

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Intégrisme: la «montée» imaginaire – et les Janettes

2014/03/31 Leave a comment

Pretty damning indictment of those warning of a rapid increase in fundamentalism in Quebec. Interesting, most requests for religious accommodation come from Christians.

Dernier indicateur : l’avis des chercheurs qui étudient les minorités religieuses du Québec ou les côtoient. Ceux qu’a interviewés Le Soleil – soit, hormis M. Rousseau, Pauline Côté, de l’Université Laval, et Micheline Milot, de l’UdeM – sont unanimes : il n’y a pas le moindre signe d’une montée de l’intégrisme musulman au Québec. Et les termes qu’ils emploient laissent peu de place au doute : «bonhomme 7 heures», «scandaleux», «propos alarmistes et exorbitants», «création étatique de la peur de l’autre», etc.

Intégrisme: la «montée» imaginaire | Jean-François Cliche | Élections québécoises.

Shame on the PQ for not dissociating themselves from the comments of Janette Bertrand (background here):

La cofondatrice du mouvement pro charte « Les Janette » y est allée d’un exemple pour illustrer la nécessité, selon elle, de se doter de cette législation, qui prévoit notamment un encadrement des demandes d’accommodements raisonnables.

Imaginons, a-t-elle dit, que « deux hommes » arrivent à la piscine de son édifice à logements montréalais, et que la vue de femmes dans l’eau leur déplaît.

« Bon, imaginons qu’ils partent, qu’ils vont voir le propriétaire, qui est très heureux d’avoir beaucoup de, de… c’est les étudiants de McGill riches qui sont là, et puis, ils demandent ‘Bon, on va avoir une journée’, bon, alors ils payent », a-t-elle suggéré.

« Et là dans quelques mois, c’est eux qui ont la piscine tout le temps. Ben c’est ça, le ‘grugeage, c’est ça dont on a peur et c’est ça qui va arriver s’il n’y a pas de charte », a lancé Mme Bertrand.

http://www.ledevoir.com/politique/quebec/404117/janette-bertrand-vilipende-les-integristes

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Jonathan Kay: The space between the hijab and niqab is where our anxieties lie

2014/03/31 Leave a comment

Jonathan Kay on the contrast between the hijab and the niqab, following the experience of a young non-Muslim woman wearing a hijab for a week. I think he largely has it right on the contrast between the hijab being compatible with integration, the niqab not:

One of the effects of the niqab is that it strips away all of the informal social cues that we typically rely on when we talk to people: the smiles, raised eyebrows, furrowed brows and such that tell us if our jokes are funny or not, our stories interesting or not, our presence welcome or not. The Burqa signals to the non-burqa-wearer that, to the extent he is capable of arousing any emotion at all, it is of the negative variety. In such a situation, most of us non-burqa folks are likely to put on a nervous smile, say something harmless, and get any necessary social or commercial interaction over with as quickly as possible so as not to induce the fear of sexual predation that, the niqab’s existence implicitly signals, is but thinly suppressed in all of us.

Since 9/11, all Western societies have become obsessed with the way Muslim women dress. (Indeed, in parts of Quebec, it has become a sort of full-blown neurosis.) But Rawhani misunderstands the issue if she thinks that this is really about the hijab. It is about our basic, socially felt human need to see the faces  of those we interact with. The fact that we politely tolerate those who live behind masks bespeaks Canadian civility. But it does not mean the underlying practice is in any way healthy or desirable.

Jonathan Kay: The space between the hijab and niqab is where our anxieties lie | National Post.

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It’s Muslims themselves who give voice to verse

2014/03/29 Leave a comment

Good piece by Ayesha Chaudhry on religious texts and interpretations. Although written about Islam, applies more broadly:

An indispensable step in this process of reinterpretation is an honest and unflinching examination of the religious tradition. Believers need not apologize or be ashamed of their history, but they must certainly not defend and perpetuate aspects of their religious tradition that are oppressive and tyrannical.

Religious traditions are shaped by their own social and historical contexts and it’s only natural that given the evolving notions of justice and gender equality, modern Muslims will look to the Koran to protect women against gendered violence. They have begun doing so, and the rest of us, Muslims or other, must use our power to give these interpretations the authority they deserve.

It’s Muslims themselves who give voice to verse – The Globe and Mail.

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York University professor too quick to denounce sexism in refusing student’s request to avoid women in class: rights advisor

2014/03/28 Leave a comment

While I have a lot of respect for David Seljack, and his work and that of Paul Bramadant were very helpful to the Multiculturalism program in developing greater awareness and sensitivity to religious diversity, I think he doesn’t quite have the balance of rights question right in the context of a diverse society that needs a certain degree of integration to function well.

“First question is ask the student what is his religious belief and why does it not allow him to interact with women. If the student said, as many people have implied, [his] religion feels that women are dirty, women are inferior, I cannot mingle with them, then Dr. Grayson should have immediately denied him the accommodation… If he just said it’s a question of modesty, or this is the way my religious group has decided to protect itself from what we see as an over-sexualized youth culture in Canada, or simply, this is how we assert our religious identity, then you weigh it, not against the imagined rights, or the principle of gender equality, but the real impact on the rest of the students in the class…  Instead, Dr. Grayson decided to go public and discuss this in large ideological terms, rather than on the specific merits of the individual case.”

The same question arises: what makes gender discomfort more acceptable as a reason for accommodation than racial discomfort? I think the broader framing of the issue has merit, as we always need a framework to assess how well individual accommodation decisions conform to the broader policy and societal objectives.

York University professor too quick to denounce sexism in refusing student’s request to avoid women in class: rights advisor | National Post.

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CSIS tracking 80 Canadians who came home after going abroad for ‘terrorist purposes’

2014/03/25 Leave a comment

CSIS doing its job:

But the speaking notes provided to the CSIS director acknowledge that the intelligence community faces challenges identifying and tracking the movements of such individuals, and bringing charges against them.

The number of individuals overseas is constantly in flux and their motivations are not always easy to discern, according to the notes. Their destinations are often in active conflict zones or failed states, meaning cooperation with foreign partners — and getting sound intelligence — can be difficult.

Further, those engaged in terrorist activities often travel on falsified documents and “Canada has not, to date, systematically collected exit information that could be used to reliably confirm an individual’s departure,” the notes state.

“Despite our best efforts it is highly likely there are Canadians we do not know of who are travelling overseas to engage in terrorist activities.”

CSIS tracking 80 Canadians who came home after going abroad for ‘terrorist purposes’.

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Islamic law to be enshrined in British law as solicitors get guidelines on ‘Sharia compliant’ wills

2014/03/24 Leave a comment

Some were not thinking about how Islamic principles list can be reconciled with a human rights and equality perspective. Sad.

Under guidance produced by The Law Society, High Street solicitors will be able to compose Islamic wills that refuse women an equal share of inheritances and discount non-believers entirely, the Sunday Telegraph reported.

The recommendations can also prevent illegitimate children, as well as those who have been adopted, from being included in an inheritance.

Nicholas Fluck, president of The Law Society told the newspaper that the document, which would be recognised by Britain’s courts, would promote “good practice” in applying Islamic principles in the British legal system.

But some lawyers have described the recommendations as “astonishing” and campaigners have warned that the move marks a step towards a “parallel legal system” for Britain’s Muslim communities.

Islamic law to be enshrined in British law as solicitors get guidelines on ‘Sharia compliant’ wills – Home News – UK – The Independent.

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